Yemen's Houthis launch fresh attack on Saudi Aramco oil site

Saudi Aramco oil site

SANAA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi rebels said they launched three bomb-laden drones at a Saudi Aramco oil facility and the King Khalid Airbase in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Friday morning.

"Two drones hit King Khalid Airbase in Khamis Mushait city and the third one struck the Aramco oil facility in Jazan city," the group's al-Masirah TV reported, adding "the attacks were accurate."

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said Saudi-led coalition forces intercepted three drones aimed at Khamis Mushait and Jazan.

This was the second such attack on the Saudi giant Aramco site in the Red Sea city in nearly a week. The coalition on April 15 said it intercepted five ballistic missiles and four drones launched by the Houthis from Yemen to Jazan.

Cross-border missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis have escalated since February when the group began a major offensive against the Saudi-backed Yemeni government army to capture the oil-rich province of Marib in central Yemen.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in March 2015 to support Hadi's government.